Question

a local business supplies firewood to its customers. this business periodically provides wood samples to a testing laboratory to perform various analyses including mass, density, water content, burn time, and emissions analyses. the business uses these testing results to ensure that they are providing the best quality firewood to its customers. wood is made mostly of cellulose and has a chemical formula of c₆h₁₀o₅. it burns with oxygen (o₂) to during combustion to form carbon dioxide (co₂) and water (h₂o). which of the following equations represents the cellulose combustion reaction?

Explanation:

Step1: Write reactants and products

The reactants are cellulose ($C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}$) and oxygen ($O_{2}$), and the products are carbon - dioxide ($CO_{2}$) and water ($H_{2}O$). So the un - balanced equation is $C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}+O_{2}
ightarrow CO_{2}+H_{2}O$.

Step2: Balance carbon atoms

There are 6 carbon atoms in $C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}$, so we put a 6 in front of $CO_{2}$: $C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}+O_{2}
ightarrow6CO_{2}+H_{2}O$.

Step3: Balance hydrogen atoms

There are 10 hydrogen atoms in $C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}$, so we put a 5 in front of $H_{2}O$: $C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}+O_{2}
ightarrow6CO_{2}+5H_{2}O$.

Step4: Balance oxygen atoms

On the right - hand side, the total number of oxygen atoms in $6CO_{2}$ and $5H_{2}O$ is $6\times2 + 5\times1=12 + 5 = 17$. In $C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}$, there are 5 oxygen atoms. So the number of oxygen atoms from $O_{2}$ is $17-5 = 12$, and we put a 6 in front of $O_{2}$. The balanced equation is $C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}+6O_{2}
ightarrow6CO_{2}+5H_{2}O$.

Answer:

$C_{6}H_{10}O_{5}+6O_{2}
ightarrow6CO_{2}+5H_{2}O$